Schools return and care home visits are permitted as lockdown eases

Pupils are returning to schools and loved ones are able to visit care home residents in person as part of the first phase of lockdown easing in England.

Boris Johnson said he hoped Monday's tentative softening of restrictions marked a "big step" on his "road map to freedom" - a plan which could see all Covid measures lifted by June 21.

When asked about the risks of schools re-opening the Prime Minister said:

"I think the risk is actually in not going back to school given all the suffering, all the loss of learning we have seen."

It comes after Amanda Spielman, England's chief schools inspector, expressed concern about eating disorders and self-harming among children after she said pupils endured "boredom, loneliness, misery and anxiety'' during England's third lockdown.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he was looking at proposals that included a five-term academic year, a shorter summer holiday and longer school days to help pupils catch up on lost learning during the pandemic in "transformative'' measures not seen since the Second World War.

But Ofsted chief Ms Spielman, said such ideas had fallen by the wayside in the past and that any proposals should have the support of parents:

"I think a number of schools have experimented over the last couple of decades with things like five-term years and I don't think many of those have persisted."

Labour is calling for catch-up breakfast clubs before the school day starts, with leader Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow education secretary Kate Green due to argue during a visit to a school in east London on Monday that the concept would allow for both extra socialising and learning.

The party said its analysis of Government data suggested children have each lost an average of 109 face-to-face school days since the first lockdown in March 2020.

Secondary school pupils, who are likely to have their return staggered over the week to allow for mass testing, are being asked to take three voluntary Covid-19 tests on site and one at home over the first fortnight. They will then be sent home-testing kits to do twice-weekly.

The Department for Education (DfE) is also advising secondary school students to wear face coverings wherever social distancing cannot be maintained, including in the classroom.

But primary school children are not being asked to carry out Covid-19 tests or wear face masks on their return.

As well as pupils returning to classrooms for the first time in at least two months, the rules around meeting with a person from another household outdoors will be loosened to permit recreation and not just exercise.

While the "stay at home" message will remain in place, it means people can leave home to meet one other person for a coffee or picnic.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of care home residents in England will be able to receive indoor visits from a nominated friend or relative as of this week.

Visitors will be tested prior to visits, wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and be asked to keep physical contact to a minimum.

Holding hands is permitted but hugs and kissing are not, to help reduce the chance of spreading the virus, the Government has said in its latest visiting guidance.